Aux switch power question

[dlnew2]

I am installing a Yaesu FTM-500DR that has a max transmit consumption of 10a.
Is it safe to use aux switch 3-6 (10A) or should I use aux switch 2 (15A)?

Any insight greatly appreciated

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[CM81]

to be on the safe side I would use the 15a. Some people go by the rule that the load shouldn't exceed 80% of the capacity

 

[dlnew2]

Great, thank you

 

[toymaster]

A 10 amp fuse blows at 10amps or a little bit more. Per the specs of that unit it has a consumption up to 10 amps when transmitting. You have to be aware of the wording, specs will use slightly different wording i.e. it needs a XX amp circuit or it will draw XX amps, big difference.

Anywho, you need a larger than 10 amp circuit for that unit.

 

[Pugsly]

I have that same radio. Manual says it should be hardwired to the battery. That being said I wired it to my Trigger 6shooter on the 30A circuit. I don’t have the factory upfitter switches.

https://triggercontroller.com/product/trigger-controller-6-shooter-bronco-combo-kit/

 

[Diller]

Fellow ham here, W2FSL, and I've installed a lot of radios, in a lot of different rigs, and I've always wired right to the battery unswitched, but inline fused. However as others have said, if you're going to utilize an aux switch, use the 15 Amp.

 

[Owl]

You might consider using a relay that can handle the necessary amps, and then this relay is controlled by the aux switch.

What a relay does is use a small amount of current to run an electro-magnet that closes a circuit which controls the large amount of amps (in the example below 40 AMPS).

For example -- here is an Amazon example. Nothing special about it... just an example.
The relay takes about 150 milliamps to run. That's basically nothing (0.150 amps)... but it controls up to 40 AMPS without burning out.

Result = you get the job done and it protects the aux-switch wiring and switch.

Relays can either be "normally closed" or "normally open". I don't know why you might want "normally closed" for this type of circuit... but you can get a relay that does this.

So... you'd want a "normally open" relay.

Of course... you still want fuses on the 40 AMP (or what ever) circuit. You don't need a toasted Bronco. Note: Fuse has to blow before the wiring melts... so use the correct size wire for the application.

So... you'd have the battery (fused for 10 amps assuming you're using wire that can handle 10 amps) tied into the high-amp side of the relay which connects to your Yaesu FTM-500DR, and then the switching side would be controlled via an aux-switch. This gives you what you want... safely.

You turn the aux-switch on... it closes the electro magnet and the stereo works. You turn the switch off... the magnet goes away, and the switch opens.

That is how I'd wire up a high-amp circuit to the aux-switch. I never want to have to troubleshoot a burned out Bronco circuit. And in this way... you can use any switch in the aux panel, because you're only using 0.150 amps for the aux-switch.

https://www.amazon.com/ARTGEAR-Harn...&sprefix=12v+relay,industrial,170&sr=1-4&th=1

However -- this does mean that your memory on the radio better be static and not need power. If it does... then hopefully there is a low-power circuit part of the stereo that can hook directly to a fused circuit or is run by an internal battery... which bypasses any switches anyway. Note: A switch that turns all the power to a stereo off (aux or relayed) is a problem if the stereo doesn't retain its memory without power.

My 2 cents.

 

[l88m22vette]

Here is how I wired driving lights into AUX6 using the relay harness from the lights themselves: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...how-to-wire-in-relay-and-lights-to-aux.68769/

 

[Farm8265]

Yes

 

[HighVelocity]

I'm curious why you would bother using an upfitter switch for it when it has it's own power switch?

 

[CalvinT]

I am installing a Yaesu FTM-500DR that has a max transmit consumption of 10a.
Is it safe to use aux switch 3-6 (10A) or should I use aux switch 2 (15A)?

Any insight greatly appreciated

The Yaesu manual says to connect it to a 15 A, 13.8 volt source.

I'm considering a ham radio, not sure which. The FTM-500DR looks like a good option. Going straight to the battery is appealing, but you run the risk of leaving the radio on after shutting your Bronco off and draining the battery. AUX switch 2 is appealing just for convenience, and I think the AUX switches are off when the ignition is off. Or maybe wire in a relay to the battery that's controlled by ignition switch?

 

[Owl]

You could always make it interesting by putting two relays in series to the battery. One controlled by aux switch, and one controlled by whether the Bronco was on or not. Maybe via the lights if they're on all the time??? I haven't looked into that.

Anyway, what that would accomplish is that the aux switch AND the Bronco would have to be on for your radio to work. That way... no battery drain if the aux switch was on but the Bronco was off.

 

[dlnew2]

The Yaesu manual says to connect it to a 15 A, 13.8 volt source.

I'm considering a ham radio, not sure which. The FTM-500DR looks like a good option. Going straight to the battery is appealing, but you run the risk of leaving the radio on after shutting your Bronco off and draining the battery. AUX switch 2 is appealing just for convenience, and I think the AUX switches are off when the ignition is off. Or maybe wire in a relay to the battery that's controlled by ignition switch?

This was my concern as well, leaving the unit on and draining my battery. I wired to Aux2 but it is easy enough to relocate direct to battery while I wait for the Archetype Racing ORANGE Edition BAM BYODR MKII to be delivered and complete the installation.

I ended up installing the main body behind the drivers side fuse panel as described in this post. Then ran the control head extension cable up by the drivers side grab handle to mount the control head to the eventual BAM BYODR MKII using 67 designs Universal Tablet Holder as described in this post. then mounted the antenna by the original radio antenna using the Mountains2Metal Bronco Antenna Mount as described in this post.

I am very happy with the install and as you can see heavily leaned on this forum and the original authors of the referenced posts.

Thanks and 73 - KJ6LMT

 

[bldavis11]

The Yaesu manual says to connect it to a 15 A, 13.8 volt source.

I'm considering a ham radio, not sure which. The FTM-500DR looks like a good option. Going straight to the battery is appealing, but you run the risk of leaving the radio on after shutting your Bronco off and draining the battery. AUX switch 2 is appealing just for convenience, and I think the AUX switches are off when the ignition is off. Or maybe wire in a relay to the battery that's controlled by ignition switch?

I'm about 90% sure that there is option buried in the radio menus to automatically turn off after a specified period. Now that probably works just fine until you run APRS sending out packets every 2 or 5 minutes.

73s.

KF0JOT

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